Need Ideas...want to start Female Comm.

[jmejemima]

Hi all!

I need some ideas for this....

My mom recently (as in 3 days ago) drained her 30 gallon tank. (It had been running empty for a couple of weeks.) She'd had two fancy goldfish in there, but one died, and the filter got the other one. Anyway, she'd had it up for 4 years, and was tired of it, so she drained it, cleaned everything well and told me to do what I wanted with it. Such a nice mommy I have!

(Ha ha, little does she know!!! I have such ideas!)


I'm thinking right now of starting a female betta community. I know that 30 gallons would be plenty of room.

My questions are...

1. I know the rule of 1 female or 6 females, but since I'll have room for more....does it really matter what the number is if its more than 6? (Does that make sense?? )

2. What else makes good tank mates with females? From bottom dwellers/cleaners to high swimmers

3. I know that I can only put in so many at a time...so after I do that, and the tank cycles, and I get more females to add....do I take all of say group A out, rearrange the tank, then put in group A and group B? (Again, does that make sense??


I'll probably think of more questions...............


Edited to add: tank will have lots of hidey-holes (I'm thinking terra cotta pots at the moment) and heavily "fake" planted....I'm still not sure about going full out with live plants....

2nd Edit.....I will NOT be breeding! Too much stress!!!

 

[Mariah]

I would also like to know what other fish (bottom dwellers) can go with female bettas

 

[jmejemima]

No ideas from anyone! Pretty please???

All right how about this.....if this was YOUR 30 gallon tank, what would you want to see it if it were sitting right next to you, right now. Bettas or otherwise....


(Had to add this one, I think it's hilarious!!! )

 

[OohFeeshy]

Any non-aggressive bottomfeeders can go with female bettas. Are you after just bettas, or a mix of bettas and other (non-bottom dwelling) fish? Most fish are fine with females.

 

[Saucy]

Spotted cories do great. I have one myself. I have 6 girls and they don't pick on him at all. I also have a clown pleco, but he seems to be a little freaked out by them. Contrats on the 30!! Too bad I'm using mine for my geckos, or I'd have lots of little girlies.

Yeah, you could keep like 15 in that tank or a couple more. I'd say go and get a big bunch of girls at once. I don't think adding one at a time after that seemed like a problem in my tanks. They already have the pecking order established within the existing group, so one more isn't bad.

Good luck, and I can't wait to see pics!

 

[seffieuk]

hi
i have ten girlies in my tank, there are also four albino cories which the girls totally ignore + two pink apple snails. have got four more girls on the way from bettaman, can't wait

 

[jmejemima]

Any non-aggressive bottomfeeders can go with female bettas. Are you after just bettas, or a mix of bettas and other (non-bottom dwelling) fish? Most fish are fine with females.

I'm thinking mixed right now. I've had cories before...back with my first tank, got them the first day...4 cories, 4 goldfish..... 10 gallon tank. I didn't know any better! Needless to say, none of the 8 fish I got that day lasted for more than 5 days. I know better now!

I've always been interested in cories, because I hear people talk about them saying that they "play" together. I think that would be so cool to see!

Does anyone know if one species of cory is more "playful" than the others?

 

[feralcelt2]

i believe they are all about the same, the goal is to have a group of them so they play w each other.

i ended up getting one half off yesterday at the pet shop and stuck him in my female tank, hes doing great, but hes trying to become part of the small school of rasboras in there and theyre chasing him away so i need to get him a few friends, which means i will probably have to get a bigger tank, and so on...............

anyway ive heard three or more are good, but id try to get at least 5 if there is room

a great idea would be to go with pygmy cories (which grow to only about 1")

or panda cories (about 1.5")
they provide the same great entertainment as their larger cousins plus you could add more, or you could do 5 or 6 smaller cories and an oto!!

hth

 

[Kiarra]

You can absolutely have more than 6 females if you'd like! In a tank that size, you can have as many as you're physically able to stock (according to tank size, and the number of other tankmates, of course!).

I'd suggest some Cory Catfish for your "cleanup" crew, though you don't really need one, per se. But I've kept Albino Cory Catfish with my female Bettas off and on for a long time, and they've made excellent companions. They pretty much leave each other alone. Keep these in groups of 3 or more.

I've also had success with Otos, but they're so delicate that they didn't last more than a week before they died. It wasn't the female Bettas' fault, however...they're just insanely delicate, evidently. I think they should be kept in groups of 3 or more. Look them up if you want to try them.

White Cloud Mountain Minnows. An excellent little fish that people sometimes call "the poor man's neon." They're beautiful, and I love them. Schooling fish, so must be kept in groups of 5 or more. They're also technically a cool water fish, meaning that they should be kept in temperatures 75 or under to thrive. I keep mine at room temp.

If you wanted to add some Zebra or Leopard Danios, they are often all right to be kept with Bettas. Just keep their numbers at 6 or more, and they should be so intent on each other that they won't notice the female Bettas. In smaller numbers, they may nip other tankmates.

 

[afireinside]

hi
i have ten girlies in my tank, there are also four albino cories which the girls totally ignore + two pink apple snails. have got four more girls on the way from bettaman, can't wait

how many gallons is ur tank?

 

[seffieuk]

hi

180 ltr (39.5 UK gallons, 47.5 US gallons)

thats me up to my limit, me thinks...........feels need to buy new tank, oh no, i have almost succumbed to mts

 

[basia]

I've got pygmy cories in my tank with Betta girls. They swim in shoals all around the tank and are very entertaining. The Betta girls don't bother them at all, in fact they just gently push their way in to have some of the wafer I drop in for the cories. I also have 3 Panda cories which I am very fond of.